Do not kiss the king

Chapter 18

Standing by the gate of the small courtyard, Ruan Yuan saw the man sitting under the locust tree from a distance, the locust tree hadn't bloomed yet, but the tree in his heart was withered.

He tightened his fingers and wiped away the remaining tears with the back of his hand.

Walking into this small courtyard, it seemed as if he was fleeing from that inn, and his mind was full of one sentence—if possible, don’t think of me again.

"See Your Majesty."

He walked up to the man and knelt down on the ground.

Chi Jinnian was a little surprised, but the expression on his face didn't change. He picked up his body with one hand,

"Woke up this morning, why am I at Concubine Liu Shu's place?"

"Go back to the lord," Ruan Yuan lowered his head, Chi Jinnian couldn't see his expression clearly, only knew that his voice was a little lower than usual, "It's my concubine's order."

"There are many concubines and concubines in the prince's mansion, and the rain and dew are evenly wet, so that the branches and leaves can be spread out."

When Chi Jinnian heard this, his face completely sank.

"Branches and leaves."

He sneered, "Whenever you have time to spare, take care of my affairs."

"Yes, a concubine is not worthy, and I won't do this kind of thing in the future."

Ruan Yuan's voice was still calm, and the passing breeze was no longer pleasant.

Chi Jinnian suppressed the rising anger in his heart, and lifted the arm of the man in front of him,

"It's just the two of us here, why are you so unfamiliar with me?"

It was at this time that he met those red eyes, and the teardrops in his eyes slid down, dripped down to the bottom of his heart and shattered.

"When did the prince and his concubine ever get close?"

Ruan Yuan looked at him deeply, and then his voice began to tremble slightly.

Chi Jinnian was stunned for a moment, his fingers tightened, and he grabbed the thin clothes on his arm, as if holding on to a rare hope, slim but charming.

"Why do you say that?"

"The concubine and other concubines in this mansion are just birds locked up by the prince."

"At first, I thought that courtiers and concubines were different from them in the prince's mind, but now I realize that they are the same."

Ruan Yuan closed his eyes, two lines of tears uncontrollably.

Chi Jinnian frowned, with rare anxiety in his tone,

"You are different..."

"Why is it different?" Ruan Yuan suddenly interrupted, his red eyes widened, and the undercurrent was surging, "Is it because of Liu Siye?"

"Because of a concubine, like Liu Siye?"

Hearing this name, Chi Jinnian took a deep breath, stared at him in a daze, dumbfounded.

"The prince marries his concubines, loves his concubines, treats his concubines well, and cries for his concubines. In the final analysis, he just treats his concubines as Mr. Liu."

"As for Ruan Yuan, he has never been in the heart of the prince."

Ruan Yuan's emotions had already begun to surge violently, and he ran wild like a wild horse, trampling his heart to pieces.

As for Chi Jinnian, he didn't even make an excuse. He just looked at him like that, as if he had a thousand things to say, and they seemed to be poor excuses, so it's better not to say them.

"The Southern Territory is dead. I thought I would no longer have to be Ruan Ying, but because of the prince's whim, I want to be Ruan Ying in this palace for the rest of my life, and be the shadow of Liu Siye for the rest of my life."

"The concubine should have understood a long time ago. In this palace, the last thing you should ask for is the prince's heart."

Chi Jinnian's eyebrows twitched, and stormy waves rose in his deep eyes.

"Now, do you hate me?"

"My lord is high above me, my lord is cruel and ruthless, I can kill my family with just a few fingers." Ruan Yuan grabbed his sleeve tightly instead of grabbing the man's shoulder as usual, "I dare not speak of hatred."

"But the concubine, like the prince, has never been in love."

After saying these words, those two lines of tears turned into knives, gouging out his cheeks, heart, and nerves all over his body.

A locust tree leaf fell and landed on the tip of the nose, but the man didn't use his big warm hand to remove it for himself.

Tears rolled and blurred his vision. In the chaos, he watched the man stand up, wearing a black coat that looked so unfamiliar, cold, and frighteningly cold.

All of a sudden he forgot that he once loved this black so fervently.

Chi Jinnian didn't speak again. Ruan Yuan knelt on the ground and watched him walk out of sight. His clothes were shaking, and his steps were steady but flustered, as if he ran in from outside the courtyard the day he drank poisonous wine.

Only that time he ran towards himself, this time he ran away.

As the footsteps went away, Ruan Yuan whimpered, sobbed, howled, and shouted heart-piercingly.

Even with you now, I am alone in this palace.

In fact, for Chi Jinnian, it's not the same.

------

After that day, the man never came again.

All the news about him is heard from others.

The prince divorced concubine Liu Shu, where did the prince get angry, and the prince went to see the seventh prince...

All kinds of things suddenly became another person's business.

It has nothing to do with it, and it's clinging to his life.

Ruan Yuan sat under the locust tree, the locust tree finally bloomed, and the tree was full, but the young man under the tree lost weight again.

Suddenly, Zhihua hurried in and nearly fell.

Ruan Yuan supported her, seeing the tear stains on her face, he felt uneasy in his heart.

Zhihua grabbed his arm, her voice was sad,

"Princess, lord..."

"My lord is dead..."

These words pierced my ear like a needle, and my heart almost stopped beating.

Ruan Yuan's legs gave way, and he fell on the stone chair. A leaf of locust tree fell down again, and fell on the top of his hair.

"What are you talking about, what are you talking about, my lord, Chi Jinnian..."

"That's Chi Jinnian—"

Ruan Yuan suddenly grabbed the corner of her clothes, and a sob pierced the spring air. Tears were like broken pearls, one by one fell faster and heavier, and fell on the heart, on the ground that was trampled by the horse's hooves. On the muddy ground, on the snow where they danced their swords.

Cracked, rotted, buried.

"Chi Jinnian, how...how could he die." Ruan Yuan cried heartbreakingly, "He is Chi Jinnian, he is Chi Jinnian!"

After speaking, she stood up abruptly and rushed out of the courtyard with big strides. The pearl hairpin on her head swayed, which was wider than the arc drawn in the carriage on the night of Shangyuan Festival.

When he came to Chi Jinnian's room, he saw a group of soldiers surrounding him from a distance. He pushed aside the barrier formed by those people like crazy, and saw a covered door.

Gu Cong stood guard in front of the door, some soldiers wanted to stop him, so he raised an arm,

"Let the princess go in."

"You go away."

Ruan Yuan couldn't care less about propriety, and ran to open the door without even looking at Gu Cong.

At this moment, in his eyes, only the quiet person lying on the bed, still dressed in black, did not move.

Ruan Yuan was stunned for a moment, his mind was spinning, the sky was falling and the earth was cracking, his vision was blurred and clear again and again, after an unknown period of time, he rushed over, knelt on the ground and held the cold hand of the man.

"Jin Lang, Jin Lang..."

He put that hand on his cheek, trying to give him a little useless warmth, the other hand caressed his face, looked at his darkened lips, looked at his eyes that were no longer open, and felt as if Knives.

"Jin Lang, get up, look at me again, look at me again—"

"I forgive you, Liu Siye, Zhang San Li Si, anyone can be your sweetheart,"

Tears fell uncontrollably on the bed, onto the palm of the man, and flowed down the wrist into the sleeve,

"As long as you come back, you come back, you come back—"

But the man was lying on the bed without moving, his face was still expressionless, and the smile that was shown in front of him was no longer seen.

"Please," Ruan Yuan closed his eyes, took Chi Jinnian's hand on his cheek with both hands, and grasped it tightly, "Don't leave me alone..."

"I love you, I have loved you a long time ago, you are, you are..."

"My Jinlang——"

At this time, a voice suddenly came from behind, it was Gu Cong.

"Princess, my condolences."

"The death of the prince is the emperor's decision."

Ruan Yuan was still holding Chi Jinnian's hand tightly, his eyes never leaving his face, and Chi Jinnian's words sounded in his ears again,

"Because we are all born to be used by our parents."

"So you and I, keep each other warm."

The chest cavity exploded, the memories played wantonly, burning along the blood vessels, the pain was so painful that it was difficult to breathe.

"Everyone wants to kill him, everyone wants his life, but I, but I, want him to live..."

"As long as he lives, I am willing to be Ruan Ying and a shadow for the rest of my life."

As Ruan Yuan said, he hugged Chi Jinnian with both hands, and rested his head on his chest, exhausting all his strength with every breath.

"Jin Lang, the pagoda tree blossoms are blooming, why am I without you?"

--------

"My lord."

Seeing Chi Jinnian open his eyes, Li Wuyue called out subconsciously.

Chi Jinnian glanced at her, sat up without hesitation, his face was a little pale, and his voice was a little hoarse.

"Call Gu Cong."

Li Wuyue's eyelashes trembled slightly, she clenched her sleeves subconsciously, and responded with a smile,

"Here we go."

When Gu Cong came in, Chi Jinnian had lifted the quilt and was standing by the bed, wearing a robe himself.

"The medicine is strong, so it's better for the prince to rest for a while."

Chi Jinnian closed his collar and didn't look at him.

"What's the queen's reaction?"

Gu Cong was stunned for a moment, remembering the heart-piercing appearance of that little boy, he breathed a little harder,

"Going back to the lord, the princess knelt beside the lord and cried for several hours. She didn't think about eating and drinking, and she couldn't hold on before going back."

Chi Jinnian's eyes dimmed, and he didn't speak for a while.

"Is the matter of the palace settled?"

"Go back to the lord, the arrangements have been made, the little masters are dismissed, it's just picturesque..."

Before Gu Cong finished speaking, the man raised an arm and interrupted, his voice was a bit colder than usual,

"Is the princess gone?"

Gu Cong swallowed the picture-like news, still bent over respectfully,

"Go back to the prince, the princess insists on staying in the palace."

A moment of surprise flashed in Chi Jinnian's eyes, and soon he turned into ashes at the bottom of the dark lake, silently.

He glanced at the jade pendant in his hand, and finally put the jade pendant on the table.

"You write a letter to Luo Xiang, asking him to keep the Ruan family no matter what."

"Princess, you go to the palace to watch in person. If there is any movement, protect him at any cost."

"Yes." Gu Cong exited the room and closed the door.

Chi Jinnian sat back on the bed, picked up the jade pendant on the table and put it in his palm.

Looking at the word "Ye" on it, another face appeared in my mind.

Small and beautiful, with red eyes, those eyes gouged out like a knife, and said to herself,

"Because of a concubine, like Liu Siye?"

Yes, it is an indisputable fact that he is like Liu Siye, the sorrow in them is twisted together.

But the way he rests on his chest, his bright smiling face, and the "Jin Lang" he keeps saying have nothing to do with Liu Siye.

They agreed to keep each other warm, agreed to spend the Lantern Festival together every year, agreed to have Jin Lang as enough, why in the end, it turned out that they had never loved before.

Chi Jinnian's heart ached, Ruan Yuan's appearance was still haunting his mind that day, and he cut off the nerve with tears.

He clenched the jade pendant tightly, his face was pale, and for the first time in a long time, he looked vulnerable like a loser.

A proud loser loses everything once he loses.

The person he wants to protect well, the person he wants to hold firmly in his palm, but now he wants to let go.

Chi Jinnian didn't understand why Ruan Yuan cried heart-rendingly for his death, but he knew that when Ruan Yuan figured it out, he would leave the palace.

Abandon that heavy identity, abandon that disgusting shell, and abandon the person who begged for his warmth at the bottom of the valley.

Ruan Yuan, you, a bird, will be beautiful even if you sit on the roof of an ordinary house.

Didn't tell you, but actually I, love.

---------

"Master Gu."

Gu Cong walked to the verandah on the second floor, but was stopped by Li Wuyue.

"Miss Li." He turned around with no special expression on his face.

"My lord, why didn't you bring Mr. Ruan here?"

Li Wuyue looked at him, but Gu Cong didn't look back at her, and just said a little,

"My lord's meaning, Gu does not dare to speculate."

Li Wuyue chuckled, looked away, and turned to look at the moon in the sky.

"That's all." Her tone was a little helpless and sad, "The prince is cold by nature, you and I have known it for a long time."

"I thought Mr. Ruan would be different, but I was overthinking it."

Gu Cong pursed his lips and didn't speak for a while, but he didn't watch the moon with Li Wuyue either.

When he was finally about to lift his foot, he said again,

"My lord is cold by nature, Gu doesn't know."

Mr. Ruan is indeed different from the prince.

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The author has something to say:

Li Wuyue: "My lord is cold by nature."

Ruan Yuan: "My lord is not good at words."

Chi Jinnian: "I'm not good at words, but I love Ruan Yuan."

(ps: The author will update on the recovery day after the trip)